Hello again readers!

Time for the first chapter of the Firebird Princess! Before I start, let me clear something up. Yes 400 years have passed since our dear princess had escaped. But to keep it modern, she's eighteen years old. I hope this doesn't confuse you, my fellow readers.

Part 1, The Search

Chapter 1: A Chance Meeting

The Magical Association Great Institute or M.A.G.I.

"Have you found any leads yet?"

"None, but I'm sure there has to be something here about them."

Two people were gathered in the library, searching through ancient scrolls and textbooks. One was a very tall lad with white hair and green eyes. The other was a stout woman with violet hair in a ponytail and blue eyes. Both were wearing lab coats and blue jumpsuits.

"Well hurry up Taika! There has to be something about the tribe called the Firebirds." The man said frantically.

"I tried Thoth, but almost every book has given me no answer. And I've searched through The History of Fiore and Ancient Tribes and How They Lived!" Taika threw up the book in disgust. "The master will not be pleased by this."

Thoth gave Taika a look of disappointment before turning back to his book. "Master Vidimus has insured us the job of looking for one person and we have no leads whatsoever about her."

"Just who is so important that Master Vidimus needed us to research about?" Taika asked, curiously.

"Why the princess herself, Seika."

Sakura Town, North of Magnolia

"So who is our client again?" Natsu asked for the umpteenth time.

Team Natsu, once again, was on a very important mission. They traveled through the crowded city without so much as attracting any attention. Lucy currently had her nose in the guidebook, Gray was talking with Erza, Wendy walked around gazing at the scenery with Happy and Carla, and Natsu slouched behind. The mission was a simple one; help out protecting a social gathering.

"The clients name is Master Vidimus and he's the leader of this town." Erza said, coolly.

"It says here in the guidebook that he's a well-respected person that gave the town a new chance in life. He also founded a major university here called M.A.G.I, a school for wizards to enhance their potential." Lucy read aloud.

"So this guy must be really important to hire top wizards for his big gathering." Happy interjected.

"I'm sure we'll have some fun doing it." Wendy said.

"Yeah he hired the best. With Fairy Tail wizards, what could go wrong?" Lucy reassured herself.

"HEY FLAME IDIOT, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"

"SHUT UP ICE FREAK AND PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!"

Already Gray and Natsu started their usual fight, right in the middle of the square. Everybody stopped what they were doing and watched the pyro and striper duke it out.

"YOU TWO STOP THIS AT ONCE!" Erza shouted, punching both of them in the face.

Lucy and Wendy looked at each other and sighed.

"You might want to rephrase your words Lucy." Carla muttered.

Natsu and Gray recovered from the beating and glared at each other.

"We'll deal with this later." Gray mumbled under his breath.

"Couldn't agree more." Natsu mumbled back.

Suddenly, he was knocked down to the ground again. This time, however, by a mysterious figure who fell on top of him. She had deep red hair, wore a red camisole, blue jeans, and brown combat boots. On her back was an orange backpack and around her neck was a necklace.

"Watch where you're going, Pinky!" She said, rudely.

Over the skies of Sakura Town

Seika descended over Sakura Town, a determined look on her face.

This is the place, maybe I can find some leads here. She thought.

Her stomach gave a loud rumble.

And maybe a quick bite to eat.

She touched down in a secluded area and her wings disappeared. Putting on her backpack, she ran out into the heart of the city. It was a serendipitous sight. The trees were in full bloom as cherry blossoms rained everywhere. The smells filled her nose, from flowers to freshly baked pastries. And all around her people were hard at work, not even noticing the newcomer.

Excellent now I can research in peace.

Seika broke out into a run. The sights around her turned into a blur as she did. Seika laughed, her hair flowing in the wind. She had always enjoyed freedom and not being told what to do. Even though as a princess she followed the rules, she liked the places she visited as a runaway.

A sudden impact broke her stride as she tumbled down to the ground. When she got out of her daze, she realized that she fell on top of someone. He had pink hair, wore a white vest with a black coat, and brown sandals. Around his neck rested a scaly white scarf.

"Watch where you're going, Pinky!" She said, rudely.

"Me? You were the one who bumped into me in the first place!" He retorted.

"Whatever and get off me!" She got up and checked herself for any injuries, smiling when she found none.

"Geez you need to slow down." He said, getting up.

"It gets me to places faster. Not like you kid who goes too slow for their own good." Seika said.

"I'm not a kid! You just ran into me!"

"Natsu are you okay?"

Seika saw four people and two floating cats run over their directions. Her face scowled and she turned towards the guy.

Why does his name sound familiar? Like I've heard it before? He couldn't be….no it can't be.

"Natsu are you sure you're okay?" Seika snapped out of her thoughts and saw a busty blond girl examine Natsu from head to toe.

"I'm fine really Luce! No broken bones or anything fatal." Natsu reassured her.

"Wait Natsu you've got a cut on your hand!" The blue cat pointed out.

Seika bit her lip. She forgot that she had sharp nails and grabbed his hand to get up. I guess I've got to help him. More or less, I guess.

"Here I can fix that." She said, seizing his hand. Natsu was about to protest when a gold glow enveloped his hand. When it stopped, the cut had vanished.

"Woah how did you do that?" He asked, eagerly.

"I have…..healing powers that enable me to do such things." Seika half lied.

"Wow that's so cool! I'm Natsu by the way. And this is Lucy, Erza, Gray, Wendy, and the two cats are Happy and Carla." He pointed all of them out as he said their name.

"Nice to meet you, I am Seika Haydn. What brings you guys to Sakura Town?"

"We're hoping to complete a mission here for Master Vidimus. But these two idiots caught us off guard." Lucy gestured towards Natsu and Gray.

Seika laughed and pointed towards a rather large building. "Well that's where you'll find him. I'm also going there too."

"So he resides at M.A.G.I? I guess being the headmaster there makes sense." Erza reasoned.

"Well let's get going, this mission isn't going to complete itself." Natsu joked.

"Aye sir!" Happy agreed.

"Can I accompany you guys there? I hate to go there alone." Seika shuddered at the fact of being around too many humans in one building.

"Well seeing as you healed Pyro, what the heck? You can join us." Gray said.

Seika grinned and grabbed Natsu's hand. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Then she started to run again.

"Why are you always running? Don't you get tired?" Natsu call out.

"Why would I get tired of running? It's fun!"

Headmaster's office

"Master Vidimus sir, the wizards from Fairy Tail have just arrived."

"Excellent work Thoth. I'm sure you and Taika have had success on your task?"

"Negatory sir, but we'll keep looking for information." Thoth affirmed.

"Good, good. Make sure to look on information on the pedant."

"With all due respect sir, what do you hope to gain from all this research?" Thoth questioned.

Master Vidimus spun around in his chair. He was a thin man with black hair and goatee. His reptilian green eyes looked towards him.

"The rare power of the Firebird tribe is that the pendant can grant the power of immortality. If I can wield its abilities, then I can live forever."

"But sir, why must we continue our research on the princess?"

"Because my star pupil, she has the pendant within her grasp."